


Certainty of Stars

by BoxFullofCats



Series: Certainty of Stars [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game)
Genre: Author reserves the right to change the title because I couldn't think of a less corny one, Canon Compliant, Character Introductions, First Meetings, Flirting, Gen, Not Beta Read, Sleepy Cuddles, Universe Alteration, but honestly Qui-Gon started it, meaning that things like my planet swapping will happen, playing with rules of Jedi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:15:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23123110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoxFullofCats/pseuds/BoxFullofCats
Summary: “Okay, shut that thing off and grab some seat,” Greez said calmly, motioning for the Jedi to lower his weapon.He was clearly shaken, his breath stuttering, and his eyes rapidly blinking. Cere was the first to move to the holo-table. Fayza looked at him as he passed but he didn’t make eye contact with her. She slowly went around him and joined Cere. After Fayza slipped by him he put the blue blade out. Before Greez could pass him, he made his way to the holo-table too.“Thanks for the help,” his voice still carried a tremble in it, “but who are you people?” He had not yet stowed away his lightsaber, and kept it firmly gripped in his right hand.Cere seemed to play it safe and kept the Jedi, and his weapon, in her sight as he rounded the holo-table. “My name is Cere Junda,” she introduced herself. “This is Fayza No’Vastar,” the older woman gestured at Fayza, who had put herself between Cere and Greez, “and this is my captain, Greez Dritus.”
Relationships: BD-1 & Cal Kestis, BD-1 & Original Character(s), Cal Kestis & Cere Junda, Cal Kestis & Fayza No'Vastar, Cal Kestis & Greez Dritus, Cal Kestis & Original Character(s)
Series: Certainty of Stars [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1662763
Kudos: 9





	1. First Meeting

"And what’s that one?” Fayza pointed to a grid on the holo star chart. She was five and sitting on her father's lap. Davan No’Vastar chuckled at his daughter’s eagerness.

“That would be Coruscant,” he politely informed her. “I’ve only been there a few times with your grandfather.”

She turned her dark eyes on him. They were just like his, as was much of her color. Same dark hair, same eyes, and same tan-olive skin. Fayza liked that they looked so much alike. Her large number of cousins, or at least the ones her age, liked to tease her about not really being her father’s daughter. She didn’t understand why they’d do this, and only after she was praised by one of her aunts or uncles. Fayza knew being all the same meant that she was her father’s daughter. She thought maybe it was because she didn't have a mother like they did. Or that her mother wasn't married to her father. Whatever married meant.

“So you haven’t found old houses there?” she asked.

Davan laughed. “Old houses” are what Fayza called archaeological sites, be they houses or other structures. “I’m sure there are many old houses there, just none I have seen yet.”

Her big, dark eyes turned back to the little speck of light in the holo. Images of grand hidden structures and old bones buried in sand danced across the imagination of her mind.

“It's time for bed,” Davan said, gently coaxing his daughter from his lap.

“Aw,” she protested and planted her bare feet on the cool floor of her father’s library. It was where all the best stuff was, Fayza felt, even better than the big library her father oversaw. Formally it was known as the Grand Library of Parral, the largest library on Ethian. 

Fayza held her father’s hand as he walked her to her room, her nanny was already waiting for her. She gave her father a big hug before he left and shouted at him, as he closed the door, “Night Papa!” Her nanny only inclined her and replied with a polite, “M’Lord.”

Davan would be back later, to see if she was sleeping and give her one final tuck in for the night if she wasn’t. As the Lord of Parral Oasis he had some things to finish for the day. Not for the first time grateful that he was given a smaller territory of his father’s to maintain, easy to accomplish when you're a younger son of duke. It did come with the prestige of having the Grand Library and opportunities to meet scholars from all over the galaxy, but his siblings were more ambitious than just wanting an oasis with a library. Luckily for Davan he was content to stay right where he was.

* * *

Fayza pouted as her nanny put her hair into an array of braids. Nanny only did that when she was going to visit family. And they weren’t visiting family today. “This takes too long!” Fayza groaned.

“Patience, m’lady. Your father is meeting a very good friend today and wants you to look your best for them.”

“Do I have to?”

Nanny chuckled, “Yes, I believe I do.”

After what seemed like forever she was deemed presentable. Then they had to wait. If her nanny hadn’t kept telling her to stop slouching in her seat and keep her head up, so as not ruin her hair, she would have looked like a right mess when a steward of her father’s came to announce it was time for her to leave her room.

Fayza held her nanny’s hand as they made their way to the reception room. It wasn’t a room that was used often, her father usually liked to greet guests when they exited their ships in the hanger or at the Grand Library.

Once the door opened and she spotted her father she cried, “Papa!” and went straight to him, despite Nanny coaching her on entering “like a little lady”. Davan laughed and scooped her up into his arms.

“There you are!” he said with a big smile. She gave him a kiss on his cheek. “I have someone very important for you to meet.”

Fayza looked at the visitor in the room. It was a woman, in long brown robes. Her hair was dark and long, she was probably a little taller than her father, and her eyes were very kind looking when they met Fayza’s.

“Hello, Fayza,” the stranger greeted her with a smile. “I’m Naiya Roeder.”

“Hello,” Fayza quietly said back. “Are you planning to play hide ‘n’ seek in the desert? Is that why you're wearing all brown?”

Davan sighed, ready to correct Fayza, and Naiya laughed. “No, little one, I do not plan to hide in the desert any time soon. I am a Jedi. Have you ever heard of the Jedi?”

Fayza scrunched up her face. “I think so. Papa says they’re peacekeepers.”

Naiya smiled at both Davan and Fayza. “Yes, that’s correct. Some of us also like to collect things. I like to collect knowledge about old civilizations - about cities and people who lived long ago.”

“Like Papa!”

“Yes, like your father,” Naiya replied, clearly enjoying the little girl’s enthusiasm. “That’s why I’m here. I hear you have a great deal of knowledge about old civilizations in your library.”

Energetic head nodding was Fayza’s reply. “ We do! It's the best in the whole galaxy!”

* * *

It is hard to measure time as a little child. So while Fayza knew it was longer than a day but shorter than a year, she wasn’t exactly sure how long the Jedi stayed with them. Jedi Naiya was very nice. If Fayza wasn’t with her father, her nanny and staff knew they could find her with the Jedi. Fayza made sure that both her father and Naiya got out of the library and went all over Pallar Oasis. “It's the best oasis on Ethian!” Fayza had proudly told her once as they visited her favorite park. Oases were where people lived on Ethian. Some were very big, like her grandfather's, and some were small like her father's. The Grand Duke of Ethian had the biggest.

Parallel Oasis was no doubt the best, and the prettiest, according to Fayza.

On her last night with them Fayza sat on Naiya's bed, watching her draw on...something.

"What are you doing?" Fayza finally asked her.

"I am writing in my journal."

"What's it made of?"

"Paper."

Fayza had seen artifacts made of paper, but she had never seen use real paper or even write on it. “Why?”

Naiya didn’t look up from her writing but smiled nonetheless. “I do it because it makes me feel connected to those that came before us, when all they had was paper or stone to make accounts of their teachings.”

Fayza nodded sagely, as if she understood what the Jedi said. “Are you going to come back soon? I want to see you use your glowing stick again. It was so pretty!” The little girl giggled and fell back on the bed, making “whoom” noises as she waved around an imaginary stick. Naiya laughed. 

The “glowing stick” was Naiya’s lightsaber. She had done a demonstration for the girl and Fayza had been enchanted with it. Davan, much to Fayza’s dismay, wouldn’t let her touch it. Not that the Jedi would have let her.

“I’ll be back again,” Naiya said, “don’t you worry too much, little one. Perhaps I’ll even teach you one day how to use a saber, a non-lightsaber one that is.”

Fayza’s face lit up and Naiya couldn’t help but smile back.

* * *

“She’s in here,” a soft voice said. It was her aunt, Mira, on the other side of the door.

Aunt Mira was the nicest of all her aunts and uncles, and her husband was very kind too. Her children were all grown and those cousins had kids just a few years younger than Fayza. So they were nice to play with, but they weren’t always at Mira’s oasis. They didn’t say mean things about her or her dad. Not like some of the others in the No’Vastar family.

She had been with Aunt Mira the longest. Ever since her father’s ship was attacked, just right outside Parral Oasis. She had seen it happen. No one knew she had seen it because they all told her that it crashed on accident. Fayza may have only been six, but she knew the difference between crashing and exploding.

The door to her room opened, and Fayza didn’t look up, instead shifting through things on the datapad in front of her. She heard her aunt say a few more things before the door closed.

“Hello, little one,” a familiar voice greeted her. Fayza didn’t want to get her hopes up so she slowly lifted her head. It was, indeed, Jedi Naiya Roeder.

“Naiya!” Fayza cried and flung herself across the room to the Jedi. Naiya deftly caught her and hugged her back.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be here sooner,” Naiya said as the little girl sobbed into her robes.

“Papa is gone!” Fayza said in answer.

“I know, I’m so, so sorry Fayza.”

Naiya held Fayza until she calmed down enough to speak again. “Did you know, little one, that your father was my best friend?” Fayza looked up at her with her dark eyes and shook her head. “In deed he was. And he told everyone that if anything were to happen to him, I was to take care of you. Did you know that?” Another head shake in answer. “I would have been here sooner, but I had to get permission from the Jedi Council - those in charge of all Jedi - to take you on as my ward since I won’t be training you as my Padawan.”

“You’re gonna take me away?” Fayza asked, her bottom lip trembling.

“Yes, but we’ll come back whenever you want. I’m your guardian now, which means I’ll be taking care of you in your father’s place until you grow up. Is that okay? If not, I can talk to your aunt and make other arrangements.”

Fayza hugged the Jedi tighter. “No. I wanna go with you!”

The Jedi smiled sweetly at the child. “Then you shall.”

* * *

“Run!” Naiya shouted to Fayza. “I’ll hold them off, you need to escape.”

“So do you!” the young teenager shouted back. “I don’t want to leave you!” She eyed the door warily, hearing shouts and voices on the other side. It would only hold them back for so long.

Naiya went to the shelf where they kept Fayza’s training saber. The Jedi had been training the girl in lightsaber combat since the fall of the Jedi Order two years prior. With a few quick adjustments she handed the lightsaber over to Fayza. “I’ve taken it out of training mode. Remember, this once belonged to the guards who served the Jedi Temple.” Naiya thrusted a bag into Fayza’s arms. “Now it's your turn to guard what we’ve gathered, save it for those that survive, that they may learn to be better than we were and bring new hope to the galaxy.”

“Naiya,” she managed to croak out. “Please, come with me.”

The Jedi smiled at her ward and kissed her upon her brow. “Jedi are not meant to form attachments but I would be lying in saying you are not the most precious thing to me in this galaxy.” She rested her forehead against Fayza’s. “Your father would be so proud of you, Fayza No’Vastar. I am very proud of you. I have taught you all that I could, little one, and more than I should have even before the Order fell. May those skills keep you safe.”

Tears were streaming down Fayza’s face as she desperately tried to keep her sobs inside her chest. One last kiss to Fayza’s brow and Naiya let her go. “May the Force be with you.”

Fayza nodded and turned, holding firmly to the bag and lightsaber in her hands. She left through the escape hatch they had built into their home. Following the route underground she kept an eye out for Imperials coming from either end. None followed her and none confronted her as she came to the end of the route.

And just when she thought Naiya had maybe escaped, that she was going to be right behind her any moment. She felt it. Well as a non-Jedi could. She just knew her guardian was gone. And to confirm that there was an explosion, very similar to the one she witnessed when she was a little girl. No doubt it came from their home, built just far enough away from the rest of the village in case this happened. Though it was supposed to happen when both she and Naiya used it to cover their tracks.

It wasn’t meant for this. Never for this.

Later, after Fayza felt she found what was a safe place, she went through the bag Naiya had given her. There were essentials, such as credits, food things, and some clothes. There were also the dozens or so paper books Naiya had written in their travels and endeavor to hide from the Empire and those that hunted Jedi. She smiled sadly as she ran her finger over the writing. The Jedi had always liked writing as opposed entering things into datapad or other electronic entries. Only putting them in a holocron was more satisfying for the Jedi. Fayza thought the last thing she'd find in the bag was the lightsaber formerly belonging to a temple guard. It had been given to them as they had escaped the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. A guard had helped them, giving Fayza his lightsaber, his personal one, not the Temple Guard one, since she didn’t have her own, not realizing that she wasn’t a Jedi. He then held back the Clone Troopers that had come to attack the Temple, allowing Fayza, Naiya and few others to escape.

However, that lightsaber wasn’t the last thing she found in her bag. She found two holocrons. And Naiya Roeder’s lightsaber. Not realizing that she had more tears left in her, Fayza cried harder than she could remember and curled around what constituted her whole world now. 

* * *

“That’s him!” Fayza shouted and pointed at the small figure standing at the top of an opening of a broken train car.

“Where?” Greez countered, skeptical that she could see anything with the wind and water blowing all over the place.

“Shit! Right where they’re gonna blast him!” Before Greez or Cere could reply Fayza was already at the guns, aiming at the Imp ship and blasted it out of the sky.

Cere made an approving noise and patted the back of Fayza’s seat. “Pull alongside Greez,” Cere told the captain. She ran to one of the boarding ramp doors and began to open it. With the wind whipping in, Fayza couldn’t hear what was being said. She could barely make out the figure standing there. They wore dark clothes and beyond that she wasn’t sure. Their hair could have been dark brown or red, depending on the emergency lights shining on them. Fayza heard the door close and Cere came back, a little damp from her time poking her head outside.

“Told him we’ll catch up with him when we can,” Cere explained.

Fayza whirled around in her seat next to Greez. “So its a guy?”

Cere nodded, “Yes. He looked young too.”

“Is that a good thing, or bad thing?” Greez questioned as he maneuvered the _Stinger_ _Mantis_ toward the head of the transport train.

“We’ll see.”

Next thing Fayza knew the kriffing train was falling. “Well, there he goes,” Greez groused.

“He’s on top! He’s not lost yet,” Fayza laughed, a smile wide on her face while Greez wondered out loud how she was able to keep spotting him. “If we get low and get the door open we can catch him.”

Cere ran to the door once more and had it ready for him. “Jump now!” Fayza could hear the woman shout. A near indecipherable tilt of the ship indicated the young Jedi had made it. She heard Cere shout something else and Fayza got up to see if they needed help. She was glad she was a little slow to join Cere when a blast hit the ship and sent Fayza falling back into the holo-table, her ribs hitting it hard.

“Son of a bantha,” Fayza cursed, clutching her side.

“You okay, kid?” Greez asked, turning his head to look at her as he steered away.

“I’ll live,” was her reply. “We need to swing around and get him.”

“What do you think I am doing?” the captain grunted. “I lost him again.” Fayza staggered to the cockpit, looking through the windows through the rain. “Rain is coming down harder, don’t know how you’re going to find him.”

Fayza’s dark eyes searched below and then spotted bright lights and a blue glow she was familiar with. “There. Those blue and red streaks. Looks like an Inquisitor has found him.”

“But we’ll get him first,” Cere promise, and Fayza felt that there was something hidden behind it. As if it was more than just a promise.

“Shit,” Greez said, going in too low and then coming straight up, facing the dueling pair. “Not on my watch, Imp.” He fired upon the pair.

“Careful!” Fayza chastised the Latero.

Greez rolled his eyes, “I know what I’m doing!” He turned the ship so that Cere could get the Jedi on board.

Once again on the open ramp, Cere shouted to the Jedi, “Get on board!” Her hand resting on her blaster. Fayza made sure her blaster’s safety was off and ready to go too. She got her first real look at the Jedi from standing behind Cere. He was young, probably around her age. Which meant he was probably no more than a Padawan when Purge happened. And that was some red hair he had.

He limped up the ramp and then stopped to look at the darkside user walk toward them. Fayza pulled the Jedi behind Cere, as Cere pushed him, toward the common seating area. Their momentum brought them to the ground as they looked back through the opening to watch the dark figure get closer.

Cere fired at the Inquisitor, who calmly dodged it. Then started to deflect the bolts back into the _Mantis_.

“Shit,” Fayza said, ducking her head, the redhead holding his arm up as if it was going to protect her.

Cere hit the controls to close the retract the ramp and close the door. “Captain!” she shouted at Greez. He started to pull away. Just in time too as the Inquisitor’s red blade hit the door, leaving a glowing red slash as a reminder of how close they were to getting inside.

Greez started to pull away, preparing the ship to get them the kriff off Bracca. The former Padawan got up, igniting his lightsaber and ran to the cockpit, Cere right behind him. Fayza was a little slower to rise, but joined them, eagerly looking out the cockpit windows to see if they were really going to escape.

The dark figure of the Inquisitor slammed onto the front of the cockpit, their hand splayed open wide, as if in greeting. It was anything but. Fayza jumped, “Nerf balls!” The newcomer gasped. Then the Imperial lackey jerked their hand as if turning something. And then they were, they had used the Force to take control from the captain, all four of his hands losing rein on the yoke, and began to put the ship into a spin. 

Thinking fast, Cere yanked the yoke in the opposite direction, dislodging their unwanted passenger, sending them hopefully to a painful landing far, far below. The redhead young man, lightsaber still ignited turned quickly around. Luckily Fayza was paying attention and flinched out of the way of its deadly blade. He looked to the door, as if waiting for the Inquisitor to force their way in from there once more. Once clear, Greez jumped the _Mantis_ into hyperspace. If anyone was still outside, they wouldn’t survive that.

Feeling relatively safe, Cere, Greez and Fayza shared a look and then turned to their new friend.

“Okay, shut that thing off and grab some seat,” Greez said calmly, motioning for the Jedi to lower his weapon.

He was clearly shaken, his breath stuttering, and his eyes rapidly blinking. Cere was the first to move to the holo-table. Fayza looked at him as he passed but he didn’t make eye contact with her. She slowly went around him and joined Cere. After Fayza slipped by him he put the blue blade out. Before Greez could pass him, he made his way to the holo-table too.

“Thanks for the help,” his voice still carried a tremble in it, “but who are you people?” He had not yet stowed away his lightsaber, and kept it firmly gripped in his right hand.

Cere seemed to play it safe and kept the Jedi, and his weapon, in her sight as he rounded the holo-table. “My name is Cere Junda,” she introduced herself. “This is Fayza No’Vastar,” the older woman gestured at Fayza, who had put herself between Cere and Greez, “and this is my captain, Greez Dritus.”

Leave it to Greez to play it casual, “How ya doin’?” But he was ready to lay down the law, or tell him who was. “Yeah, the _Mantis_ is my ship but you better pay attention to this lady here.” He pointed at Cere with one of his arms, making sure the kid knew which lady he was talking about.

Fayza took this opportunity to study him. He was young, around her age like she thought when she first saw him. Blue-green eyes looking at everything in rapid succession, as if he was studying a way to get out if needed too. Or a wild animal freshly caged. He wore a darkout fit under an equally dark poncho with orange safety marks. Old injuries in the form of scars marked his face: his nose, lip, eyebrow and on his neck near his ear.

“So, who are you?” Fayza asked in the calmest voice she could muster at the moment. His antsiness was making her antsy.

“Cal. Kestis.” Barely pausing he pointed at the door. “Who was that back there?”

Cere looked away before answering. “An Imperial Inquisitor. She’s a Force user hunting Jedi survivors.”

‘That was a lady?’ Fayza thought to herself. Cal flicked his eyes towards her before turning his attention back to Cere.

Cere continued, “And now that she knows who you are…She will not stop until she destroys you.”

Fayza remembered seeing a dark clad Inquisitor the day she and Naiya were found. Her only hope was that when Naiya activated the explosives on their home she took the one hunting her with her.

She didn’t notice when he put his lightsaber away, but he must have as she saw him adjust straps across his poncho and rotate his shoulder.

His brows furrowed together as he listened to Cere. “How do you know so much? And why’d you help me?”

The older woman looked to the captain before answering. “We track Imperial communications. We heard the Inquisitors were heading to Bracca.” She looked back to Cal. “So we made our move.”

It had been the move they were waiting for. Well, the first time they had made it in time to rescue a Jedi. All other times they were too late. Fayza was glad they had finally arrived in time to do some good.

Instantly Cal’s face went from inquisitive to distrustful. “Oh, yeah?” He shifted away from them before stepping a bit closer to the three of them, something a little more menacing in that slight movement. “What’s the bounty on Jedi these days anyway?”

“It's nothing like that,” Fayza countered the same time Greez replied defensively, “That’s gratitude for ya.”

Cere sighed, “Look, I get it.” She stepped closer to Cal, her voice softer as she continued. “You’ve been surviving on your own for so long that it’s impossible to trust anyone. And it’s what kept you alive. But this is about something bigger than just surviving.”

He looked askance as he said, “Like what?”

“Like rebuilding the Jedi Order.”

Even though Fayza knew what Cere was going to say, because the former Jedi seeker had once said something similar to her, it was still a very heavy thing to hear.

Cal’s defensive demeanor completely changed and hope instantly rose in his eyes. He looked as if a blurrg broadsided him. “You two?” he said looking between Cere and Fayza. “Anybody else?”

Greez, who had moved to the opposite side of holo-table. He threw his arms wide. “Or three,” the captain corrected. “And are we not good enough for you?” The Latero gave Cal his best version of a dashing smile.

“The Jedi Council?” Cal asked.

Cere clearly didn’t like the answer she had to give. “They’re gone.”

The, “Oh,” the came from Cal in reply was small and nearly inaudible, but conveyed his disappointment all the more. “So. I’m all you’ve got.” Judging by his expression Fayza got the feeling he didn’t like the idea of that.

“Captain, set a course for Bogano,” Cere directed him.

Cal’s pessimism must have gotten to Greez because he replied with a somber, “Aye, aye,” before returning to the cockpit.

“In the meantime,” she said to Cal, “try and relax. Go. You’re safe. For now.” The last part wasn’t a warning about those on board, but what Cal might have to face in the quest to restore the Jedi Order. She looked at Fayza. “You all right?”

Fayza nodded her head, “Yeah, just going to grab some painkillers.” Her ribs were still killing her. She probably cracked one, or bruised it. Fayza didn’t think it was broken.

Cere nodded before returning to the cockpit herself.

Cal followed Fayza, unwittingly, as she made her way to their small medical kit Luxury yachts weren’t known for their large medical bays, so a well stocked medkit was a must. Fayza made a mental note to gather more med supplies next time they made it into port since Cal was now flying with them. No doubt he was going to need it.

Fayza put the medkit on the galley table as Cal stood there, aimlessly looking around. “You want me to take a look at your shoulder? Saw you moving it earlier as if it was bothering you.”

Cal’s blue-green eyes snapped to her, surprised that she was addressing him. “Oh, no. I’ll be fine.”

“Like hell you will,” Fayza laughed and then groaned because it hurt her side. She got out a gel and some pills in a single serve bag. “Here, take these. Put the gel on whatever you bruise and take the pills for the pain.” Turning around she reached up into a cupboard, slowly so as not to aggravate her ribs anymore and grabbed a metal container. “Here’s a bottle of water.” She grabbed a bottle for herself and opened it, then used her mouth to rip open the package of her pills before downing the painkillers and water in quick succession.

Cal watched her as she lifted one side of her shirt. “Whoa,” he blushed and turned his head, trying to be decent.

“Sorry,” she apologized and put her shirt down.

Cal nodded and cleared his throat. “So, you were a Padawan too?”

Fayza shook her head. “Nope.”

The blush was quickly lost and he looked confused. “But I thought you’re trying to restore the Order?”

“Oh I am,” she assured him, “and I want to. Don’t you worry your pretty little redhead about that..”

“‘My pretty little redhead’?” Cal replied with a smirk on his lips.

Fayza turned away before he could catch her blush. "Now if you'd follow me I'll show you to your room." He started to follow her and nearly crashed into her when she stopped abruptly. “Damn. Hold on, I got to get my things first.”

“What do you mean?”

She turned around and had to pull her head back, not expecting Cal to be so close. The proximity allowed her to see each of his red eyelashes and the freckles dotting his face. 

“Well, this may be a luxury yacht, but it's a small one,” she explained, trying to subtly take a step back. It mostly worked. “Greez, Cere and I all have cabins. You, my new friend, can’t bunk with me. And I promise you don’t want to bunk with Greez. Cere might let you, but honestly it’ll be weird for you I’m sure.”

“Where does that leave me?”

The dark hair girl smiled, “That’s what I’m getting at. You’ll take my room, I’ll move my stuff and take the bunk near the engine room.”

Cal instantly disliked that. “What? No. Why would I do that?”

An incredulous look overcame her face. “Seriously? I don’t know how things were on Bracca, but I’m sure you didn’t have beds like these. You’re also injured, Cal.”

“So are you, Fayza,” he shot right back. “At least let me see the bunk in the engine room.”

She eyed him for a moment or two before sighing and giving in. “Right. Okay. It's this way.” She led him to the back, pointing out the ‘fresher along the way.

“This will be fine,” Cal said once he saw the bed.

“It's not really meant to be used for long term usage,” she tried to persuade him.

He laughed, “Yeah, but it's better than anything the Scrapper Guild provided on Bracca. I’ll sleep here. You keep your room.”

“Suit yourself, Kestis,” she replied, once again doing her best not to shrug.

“Cal. Just call me Cal,” he insisted.

Fayza smiled at him. “Yeah. Cal.” She gave him a little wave and then left.

He sat on the bed for a few moments, debating on what to do. Anything that kept his mind off what happened that day. Prauf. The Inquisitors. Everything that happened on the train. Fighting with an Inquisitor and using a lightsaber again. It was weighing on his mind. Cal pushed those thoughts away and decided to follow Fayza’s advice. He opened the gel and placed it on his ribs and shoulders, and anywhere else he could reach under his clothes. Then he popped the painkillers in his mouth and downed the whole container of water - which tasted better than any of the recycled crap on Bracca.

A few moments after he lay down, staring up into nothingness and trying to clear his mind, he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to make a few things clear:
> 
> 1) Ethian is not a canon, or even Legends, planet, though it does get its name from an alternative or previous name for the Arda system. Ethian location wise is based on where Arda is.
> 
> 2) Yes, I did lift direct dialog from the game into this story. Why? Because I wanted to write this scene (Cal meeting the Mantis crew) and then realize that it was way longer than I thought it was and I didn’t want to be disingenuine to the story by making up completely new dialog that wouldn’t fit the tone of the scene.
> 
> 3) This story isn’t an AU, but will feature Universe Alterations (i.e. such as Arda now becoming Ethian basically. Inserting my OC, things like that.) because that’s how I roll. Sticking as close to canon as I can. Anything that is from a cutscene will stick very closely to that, and I’ll fill in blanks from what I can get from Wookiepedia. And if it isn't on there then I've made it up.
> 
> 4) Lastly this isn’t beta read. So any misspellings or word omissions are not done on purpose. I write mostly late at night and while I do proofread my brain likes to fill in the corrections for my eyes rather than let my fingers correct them.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	2. Flirting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know,” she said, not looking up from the datapad her right hand was flying across, her left hand was on her fork, planted in her food on her plate. “If you have a cam you can capture an image and it’ll last longer.” She smiled and looked at him from the corner of her eye.

_"You've gotta move on and live your life. Find your destiny."_

_"Cal, look out!"_

He felt someone shaking his shoulder, and gasped. He opened his eyes into kind, dark ones, looking down at him in concern. “You okay?” Fayza asked.

“You were talking in your sleep. Weirdo,” Greez called from wherever he was down the hallway. 

Cal grunted and rubbed his eyes before getting out of bed. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Fayza nodded and gave him some room, watching as he ran his hand through his hair. “I’m not as good as Greez, but I’ve made some food if you want some.” With all the commotion and excitement of their picking up of Cal she didn’t realize how tall he was. He had to be a good half foot or more taller than her. She was used to being short though. It was nothing new. Cere was taller than her, Naiya had been taller than her. At least Greez was around to make her feel tall.

“I could use some food,” Cal replied as his stomach answered at the same time. His cheeks turned pink and he ducked his head as he followed her.

Their meal was a quiet affair. Cere and Greez were in the cockpit. Cal wasn’t sure how long he’d been out for, so he couldn’t say they had rested. He turned his attention to the girl sitting next to him. She seemed to be about his age, the way she ate and her quiet mannerisms were refined and delicate. He didn’t recall her from his youngling clan, nor any of the others from his time before becoming a Padawan. Her dark hair, so different in hue than his, was in a braid that went down her back, with some escaping it around her face. Unsure how he had mistaken her for a former Padawan, Cal knew he had never seen her before. There was something though, he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

“You know,” she said, not looking up from the datapad her right hand was flying across, her left hand was on her fork, planted in her food on her plate. “If you have a cam you can capture an image and it’ll last longer.” She smiled and looked at him from the corner of her eye.

Cal felt his face heat up once more. “S-sorry. I just, uh, wanted to thank you for the meal.” _Smooth save._

Fayza smiled at him softly. “Yeah, sure, no problem.”

Wanting to change the subject Cal asked, “What are you doing on the ‘pad?”

“Cere monitors the Imperial communication network, that’s how we found you,” she explained, placing her datapad between them and showing him what she was doing. “I monitor their communication if it's in written form. And the propaganda. You can tell a lot about their moves and such by what’s being said to the public. I’m trying to see right now where they’re making a lot of noise in regards to Jedi sympathizers. If say they’re pressing with that on Halcyon or Corellia, then we know they’re not on our trail. The closer the propaganda, the closer they are. I’m also going through back doors and planting false information that looks like its coming for official sources. Give them a false trail to follow and keep them busy away from us.”

“You’re amazing Fayza,” Cal said without missing a beat. “I would never even think of doing that.” It was Fayza’s turn to blush this time.

“Quit your flirting and just eat!” Greez called from the cockpit, clearly not pleased to have the galley sullied in such a way.

Fayza laughed and went back to her multitasking, while Cal once again felt as if an inner red light was making his face glow, and ate the rest of his meal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Each chapter is going to feature a theme as I'm kinda following a prompt list. And I made a thing.  
>   
>   
> 


	3. Sleepy Cuddles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You waiting for me?"
> 
> She nearly fell off her rock in surprise and Cal rushed forward to steady her. "Yoda's fuzzy slippers," she cursed under her breath.
> 
> Cal smiled at her, hands still on her arms, and then she noticed he had a curious passenger on his back.
> 
> "You got something new there?" she gestured with her chin at the little droid.
> 
> Cal smiled and grinned over his shoulder. “BD-1 meet Fayza, Fayza this is BD-1. He’s going to help me.”

“Waiting for him to come back?” Cere asked as she came up to Fayza where she perched on a rock, at the edge of the mesa they landed on. Bogono was beautiful, but so different than anywhere else in the galaxy she had been. The boglings had been bouncing around her, used to her quiet presence but scattered when the older woman had approached.

“I saw him earlier, running across a top of a mesa. He was swinging his lightsaber around,” Fayza replied, tucking a wayward piece of hair behind her ear. “I’m thinking he came across as a less than friendly native.”

Cere hummed, knowing what could be out there. “I wonder if he’ll actually be able to help us.” It was clear the former Jedi wasn’t sure if Cal would be able to do what was required in their goal of restoring the Jedi Order.

Fayza pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her folded arms across her knees. “You don’t think he can do it, or you don’t think he’ll come back?” A noncommittal shrug is what Fayza got in return. “I think he’ll do both."

A corner of Cere's mouth turned up. "Awful lot of faith for someone you just met."

It was Fayza's turn to shrug. "I can just tell. Did you know him, before the Purge?"

Cere took a seat next to her and looked out at the horizon. "No. I recognized his name, knew his Master. Jaro Tapal. Biggest Lasat male you'd ever seen." Cere laughed and shook her head, thinking about the past. When things were simpler, before they were betrayed.

The two sat in silence for a while, looking over the mesas in the distance, watching boglings bouncing, and other less friendly habitants make their way across the stone tops that made up this part of Bogano before Cere patted Fayza’s shoulder in farewell and went back to the _Mantis_. Fayza stayed where she was. She was actually buzzing with energy, not that her stillness communicated such. Something inside her hoped he’d be able to do what the rest of them couldn’t. Maybe it was Naiya’s seemingly eternal hope that had seeped into Fayza and was still with her, even after everything she went through. Naiya always had hope. Hope the war was going to end, hope that Jedi were on the right path, hope even after the Jedi had nearly been wiped out that they would persevere. Hope that Fayza would get away and survive.

Her mind immediately went to Naiya and her lightsaber stowed away in her cabin. When she had first joined Cere and learned that the woman was a Jedi, or formerly so, she had asked to be further trained in using her inherited lightsaber. Cere had refused and that was the end of that.

"You waiting for me?"

She nearly fell off her rock in surprise and Cal rushed forward to steady her. "Yoda's fuzzy slippers," she cursed under her breath.

Cal smiled at her, hands still on her arms, and then she noticed he had a curious passenger on his back.

"You got something new there?" she gestured with her chin at the little droid.

Cal smiled and grinned over his shoulder. “BD-1 meet Fayza, Fayza this is BD-1. He’s going to help me.”

Smiling brightly at BD-1 she said, “Pleasure to meet you, little buddy.” The droid chirped and whistled, clearly pleased by Fayza’s greeting. “Did you two find anything interesting out there?” BD-1 started to tell her in earnest in clicks, beeps, and whoops of binary.

“Whoa, whoa,” Cal cautioned his new friend.

“You got electrocuted!” Fayza shouted and stood up. “By the stars, Cal, are you okay?” She started to check him over, looking for burn marks, making sure he had all his fingers, toes could be checked later.

Fayza was patting his shoulders and then moved up to his face, turning his head this way and that, trying to see if his eyes were dilating. “Hey, hey,” Cal grabbed her hands, stopping them where they were on his cheeks. “I’m all right, Fay. BeeDee has healing stims. I’m good.” Cal squeezed her hands before letting go.

She took a deep breath and dropped her hands. “Sorry.”

“I’m not going to lie. Not used to someone reacting like that when I get injured.”

“Get used to it, Cal,” she warned. “I don’t like seeing those around me hurt. Especially if they are of the Jedi persuasion.”

His eyes seemed to shin a little more before he gave her a crooked smile. “I’ll remember that.” Cal took a seat on her abandoned rock. “How about I tell you about our little adventure before we head in?”

“Sure,” she joined him.

Cal told her about first meeting BD-1, the droid’s defense of a bogling from a bog rat, and his exploration of the planet before he got to the vault. During his tale BD-1 hopped down and settled in her lap, seemingly to be happy to look up at Cal as he talked.

The suns started to set by the time Cal was finished, somber after describing what had gone on in the vault. BD-1 was in a low power rest mode, cuddled in her lap as she had stroked the top of his head as if he was a pet while listening to Cal.

“I better let Cere know what I’ve found,” Cal said in conclusion, standing up and stretching. He reached down and tapped his little friend on the head. “C’mon, buddy.”

BD-1 powered up and beeped at his new friend, following him as they made their way to the _Mantis_.

“You passed the test,” Fayza could hear Cere say to Cal as she got up.

“So you knew about BD-1.” It was a statement from the young man, not a question.

Fayza could see Cere smile from where she was. “Come on board, we’ll talk inside.” Cere let Cal pass first and then looked to Fayza. “I’m only saying this once, so hurry up.” And Fayza jogged the rest of the way.


End file.
